Update (28/09/2022) – GS
According to new information released by Blizzard Entertainment, Overwatch 2 players on all platforms will need to connect their phone numbers to Battle.net in order to play the new title.
Overwatch 2 will receive a complete overhaul of its online infrastructure, in order to ensure player safety and identify suspicious account activity. Two of the most important steps towards this goal are SMS Protection (Cell Phone Authentication) and First Time User Experience (Entry Level Restrictions and Monitoring).
SMS protection not only allows players to add a second layer of protection to their account through mobile verification, it also removes the ability to create an account without using their mobile phone. Starting this October, players on all platforms will be required to connect a mobile number to their Battle.net accounts to launch Overwatch 2.
Only one cell phone per account is allowed and can only be used once when creating a new account. Even former Overwatch owners will need to enable SMS protection to play Overwatch 2. This is the first in a series of dedicated options to elevate the online environment and player experiences. There are also more creative options that target game sessions and entry barriers like FTUE.
FTUE, or First Time User Experience, is a system designed specifically for anyone who has never played Overwatch before. The system allows new players to prepare with a limited number of game modes, heroes and other restrictions to facilitate their gradual learning. Essentially, this means new players will need to play 100 matches to unlock all of the original heroes.
Overwatch 2 will also remove player levels from view before competitive matches to encourage safe interactions without premature bias towards lower-level teams. Voice chat is also covered with artificial intelligence tools aimed at transcribing and dealing with abusive language in real time.
While Blizzard doesn’t plan to release a new public beta of the game before its official launch in October, all of these new tools will be available at launch and promise to set a model for online gaming.
Original text – 08/05/2022
Overwatch 2 will not have another public beta before its release
Overwatch 2’s most recent public beta ended last month, and since then, Blizzard has been sharing previews of what it discovered through testing and how some heroes will be modified based on player feedback.
While many players have been waiting for a new opportunity to test drive the game ahead of its October release, the company announced this week that we will have no new betas.
Jon Spector, Overwatch Commercial Lead and Vice President of Blizzard, talked a little about the Overwatch 2 betas this week. Spector went straight to say that Blizzard has no plans to conduct a third test run of the game at this time. However, the game will be tested internally until its release.
Only two months to go until Overwatch 2 launches! We know players are eager to dive into the game and have questions about the possibility of a third public beta. While we continue to test the game daily internally, we do not plan any further public Beta tests. With all the valuable feedback we’ve received from our alpha and 2 public beta tests, we’ll be focusing our efforts on releasing the best game possible on October 4th.
With all the valuable feedback we received from our alpha and 2 public beta tests, we will be focusing our efforts on launching the best game possible on Oct. 4. (2/2)
— Jon Spector (@Spex_J) August 4, 2022
In response to Spector’s statement, players lamented the company’s decision and the lack of communication with fans, who had hoped to be able to see the outcome of the changes before release.
Will Overwatch 2 be able to match the success of the first game?
